


You Deserve Better, Alex

by lifeinabeautifullight



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Baby, F/F, Fluff and Humor, Like this is so meta, Meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-18 17:13:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14856845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lifeinabeautifullight/pseuds/lifeinabeautifullight
Summary: Slightly different from my usual fics, but I wrote this piece to express some of the issues i've had with S3 (and, believe me, this is only scratching the surface of my issues with this season). I have no problem at all with Alex wanting kids (and the issue was, and is, a perfectly valid reason for a couple to part ways), I just hate how they've reduced Alex to a babysitter, so this piece was a response to that.Lemme know your thoughts/feelings/whatever down below xo





	You Deserve Better, Alex

There’d been a time when Maggie Sawyer had laughed at the notion of soulmates. Then she’d met Alex, who she had clicked with on seemingly every level, and her outlook had changed - only for it to change a year and a half later, back to its default setting when their views on having children had clashed.

Maggie had never felt as hopeless as she did in the weeks and months that followed their break-up. Nobody had ever made her as happy as Alex had. Alex was the woman that she was supposed to be with and, the more that she thought about it, the more that Maggie wished that she had said yes to having kids with her. The thought of having children was scary…and it was _that_ that had put her off wanting them. But having kids with Alex? Alex hadn’t just been her lover, or her best friend, but she had also been the woman that had made the impossible seem possible. Maggie could do motherhood with Alex…Maggie _wanted_ to do motherhood with Alex. Now, though, now it was too late. Alex was gone, and so was that dream that had been realized too late.

Or so she had thought.

By the weirdest coincidence, Maggie had found herself running into Alex in Blackpool. Of all places to run into her ex-fiancée, _Blackpool_. And that was when she’d found herself becoming a firm believer of soulmates…because, no matter what, soulmates always found their way back to each other.

In Blackpool (seriously, freaking _Blackpool_?) they talked at length about their futures, and agreed that they both wanted the same things after all. Marriage, a house, and a family – the latter, though, not for a number of years. They recommenced their relationship then, before flying back to separate cities – Maggie had some work obligations that she had to finish back in New York City but, the second she was done with them, she was on the first flight to National City.

It had been three weeks since their reunion and everything was okay. Well, personally, things were okay. Professionally? Not really. Maggie had quickly grown concerned about the direction of Alex’s career, after hearing what had happened in her absence. And those concerns were only deepened by the phone call she’d just received. ‘Babe, are you for real? They’ve made you the babysitter, again?’

Alex’s tone on the other end was one of exasperation. ‘Yes.’

Maggie felt even more exasperated than her girlfriend did. ‘Let me get this straight…you, a bioengineer, badass government agent, who can also double as a doctor, have been made to look after yet another child? That…that makes no fucking sense.’

‘Tell me about it. Yet, here I am, babysitting whilst the others are out there, saving the day. Have I done something wrong? ‘Cause this feels like a punishment.’

‘It _sounds_ like a punishment.’ Maggie could hear wailing on the other end, and it was persistent. ‘Where are you right now?’

‘Home.’

‘ _Home_?’ They really had side-lined her, hadn’t they? Maggie’s heart broke at the thought of what they were doing to her remarkable girl. ‘Alright, I’m on my way over. How old is this kid?’

‘Like one? He crawls and he dribbles and he doesn’t talk but, god, he cries.’ Alex let out a heavy sigh. ‘He won’t stop crying.’

Maggie was already grabbing her jacket. She wasn’t due to clock off for another hour but this was most definitely grounds to cite a family emergency. ‘I’ll be there in thirty. Do you think that you can hang on that long?’

‘I can make no guarantees.’

‘Try, babe. Please try.’

‘I am…believe me, I am.’ Alex tackled bloodthirsty aliens on the daily (well, _used to_ , anyway) but it seemed like milkthirsty little humans were her breaking point. So why? Why was she burdened with one, when National City was still the world’s go-to destination for rogue aliens? It made no sense, and Maggie refused to let Alex continue to suffer.

‘I’ll try and get there quicker than that. Just hang on. I love you.’

*** *** ***

After hightailing it through the city, and making one very quick pitstop, Maggie got back to their apartment a little earlier than her original ETA. And it was just as well. The child’s cries could be heard the second that the elevator doors pinged open to their floor.

None of this felt right. In fact, it felt like patriarchal bullshit to be quite honest. Few women worked in the DEO, yet one of the few that did – i.e. Alex – who had also expressed an interest in having children, had been saddled with freaking babysitting. Alex Danvers…a highranking DEO agent, who had been appointed deputy director before the age of thirty, had been made to look after, seemingly, any and all kids that the DEO encountered. Maggie knew that this wasn’t J’onn’s doing – J’onn would never do this to Alex, he valued and respected her too much. No, this was all down to The Powers That Be, who had come in a couple of years ago, and had made noticeable changes. Bad changes. One had recently been ousted, but there were still two others…Jessica and Robert. There was another guy too – Greg – but he had a hundred different other obligations, and probably couldn’t be bothered to check in on things from time to time.

What these two had done to Alex was heartbreaking. Alex deserved to be at the very forefront of the action, fighting alongside her sister. Why even bother going to the bother of funding a fancy new battle suit, if they rarely gave her reason to wear it? Of course, Maggie knew the answer to that…to accommodate Mon-El, and make him the hero. Another problem instigated by Jessica and co. National City had been unique until Mon-El returned. It had a female hero, a role model for young girls to look up to…now, she was being overshadowed by Mon-El, and the city was no different to Central City, or Star City. Was it really so hard to let Kara be the hero? Apparently, it was.

‘Hey, are you--.’ Maggie didn’t finish that question as she entered the apartment, as Alex was most certainly not okay as she held the crying child at arms’ length, with some of kid’s bodily fluid all down one side of her hoodie.

‘I’m not made for this, Maggie.’

Maggie swooped in, and took the kid. ‘You are. You’ve just been thrown in at the deep end, because you made the mistake of saying that you wanted to be a mom. You shouldn’t have said anything. Now, you’re their go-to babysitter.’ The little boy started to settle almost immediately as Maggie started bouncing him on her hip.

‘How…how did you do that?’

‘Some kids are little assholes, and purposely act up if they sense that you’re overwhelmed.’ Her eyes flicked to the boy. ‘Ain’t that right, buddy?’ The tears had dried up, and out came a gummy grin. ‘ _Adorable_ little assholes, though.’

‘You’re a miracle worker.’

Maggie scoffed. ‘I’m not. He’ll get bored soon enough, and start screaming the house down again. That’s why I made a quick stop at _Target_ and got some toys to keep him quiet. By the way, what is his name and who the hell is he?’

‘His name is Ryder, and his parents are currently missing.’

‘Ryder,’ Maggie nodded. ‘That’s a cool name, yet hardly explains why you are looking after him.’

Alex shrugged. ‘Right? He should be with child services, yet he got handed to me instead.’

‘Who handed him to you?’ Maggie asked, though she already knew the answer.

And she was right. ‘That Jessica woman. She literally forced him into my hands, and I still don’t know why. At this rate, I genuinely wouldn’t be surprised if she makes me adopt the next child that I come into contact with. If Sam hadn’t been saved, then I think she would have made it my job to adopt Ruby. Don’t get me wrong, I love that kid but she was more of a little sister to me, you know? And I could barely look after her…I mean, have you seen this apartment? I had to sleep on the goddamn couch when I was looking after her.’

‘Yeah, that made no sense whatsoever,’ Maggie agreed. ‘Say, why don’t you go and get cleaned up whilst I look after this little dude?’

Alex frowned. ‘Cleaned up? Why, what’s--.’ She glanced down, saw the state of her hoodie and grimaced. ‘Ew…gross.’

*** *** ***

It turned out the three of them made a perfect little unit.

Alex was able to manage with Maggie beside her, and was actually getting along with Ryder now, helping him to play with the colourful xylophone that Maggie had bought. ‘See? This is better. Whoever thought that I could be a single mom with zero help was crazy.’

‘So…Jessica?’

‘Yeah. Her,’ Alex nodded. ‘I did consider it when you were gone. If I never found anyone else then, yeah…I would have gone down that route, but I know that it would have been hard. So, so hard. Some people can manage that but I don’t think I could. I’d need a solid support system to pull that off…and I don’t quite think that a mother that lives out of town, and a sister that’s needed to constantly save the day really constitutes as _a solid support system_.’

‘Not to mention your job.’

‘Exactly. I _love_ my job, and I don’t want to give it up just yet. There will come a time when I step back – there’s only so long my body can cope with the demands, and only so long that I actually want to risk my body but that? That’s not for a while yet. And, even when that time comes, I’ll hopefully still be working for the DEO in some capacity. I don’t think I’m cut out for being a single mother, and that’s okay.’

Maggie reached over, and rested a hand on Alex’s knee. ‘And you won’t have to be. When the time is right for the both of us, we’ll have kids. And if Jessica tries to make you babysit in the meantime, tell her that you are so, so much more than just a babysitter.’

Alex smiled. ‘Speaking of Jessica…does she know that you’re back in town yet?’

Maggie grinned. ‘Nope. I’ve been keeping a very low profile since I came back from NYC for that reason.’

‘You’re smart.’

‘I know, I know,’ Maggie laughed. ‘Hey, what time is it?’

Alex checked her watch. ‘Nearly seven. We should probably think about putting him down for the night, right?’

‘And where exactly do you propose that we do that?’

‘I…that is a very good question.’

Maggie hummed in affirmation. ‘And this is why reducing you to a babysitter makes no sense. This apartment isn’t equipped for children. He can’t sleep in the bed like Ruby did, he could get hurt. There’s nowhere for him.’

‘What about his stroller?’

‘Not really that comfortable for him, though,’ Maggie said. ‘I know a couple of people in child services. They can get him a bed instantly, and will look after him there, I promise.’

‘But Jessica said there was no room--.’

Maggie frowned. ‘Alex, she said that to side-line you. She wants Mon-El to take the glory, not you. Hence why you have become babysitter to any and all kids that you meet.’

‘Oh. That makes sense.’

‘You’re just realizing that now?

Evidently so. ‘I guess she did it because I had nothing to do when you left.’

‘Yeah, no doubt. But,’ Maggie squeezed Alex’s hand. ‘I’m here now, and I refuse to let them do this to you any longer. You’re a badass, Alex. And you deserve better.’

_So, so, so much better_.

**Author's Note:**

> Slightly different from my usual fics, but I wrote this piece to express some of the issues i've had with S3 (and, believe me, this is only scratching the surface of my issues with this season). I have no problem at all with Alex wanting kids (and the issue was, and is, a perfectly valid reason for a couple to part ways), I just hate how they've reduced Alex to a babysitter, so this piece was a response to that.
> 
> Lemme know your thoughts/feelings/whatever down below xo


End file.
